In this final part of our chat with AFI’s Stephen Lighhill, ASC, we discuss some of the success stories by AFI Alumni.
If you are still undecided about whether you want to apply for the cinematography programme at the American Film Institute, this episode is all about some of the different circumstances that some of the Alumni have come from before enrolling. As Stephen mentions, candidates come from all sorts related careers, such as VFX, animation, reality television and more.
The Cinematography programme at the American Film Institute is certainly not what you would call “cheap”. It does, however, offer financial aid for students (check out the AFI website for more information). If you would like to know more about the application process and what kind of work you should present, check out last week’s episode HERE.
Beyond the technical, and artistic and academic knowledge that you can gain at the course, the program also offers mentoring to help you plan your career, touching on subjects such as how to market yourself, organise your finances, networking, finding an agent and dealing with interviews with potential clients and employers.
Based in LA, the institute also benefits from regular visits from ASC members who share their working knowledge with the students on a weekly basis
Finally, Stephen shares some insight into what could be the future of studying at the AFI, with some upcoming changes and plans.
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In this second part of our chat with Stephen Lighthill, ASC, we discuss shooting on film, and why it’s still relevant.
In last week’s episode, Stephen told us how he believes advances in technology seem to have made film sets somewhat more undisciplined and disorganised, perhaps to the idea that shooting digital means shooting on a sort of “free”, unlimited medium. Conversely, shooting on film, with all its limitations, also forces you to be a lot more disciplined with how, and how much you shoot.
But shooting on film goes beyond that. The basics of exposure are still based around the concepts of photochemical imaging, and film offers a great platform to really establish a rock-solid knowledge of the elements of exposure. This is one of the reasons film is still taught at the AFI Cinematography programme.
Additionally, the programme includes a History of Cinematography course, which focuses on watching films from the pre-electronic era of film in renovated film prints. To Stephen, experiencing viewing that material, in addition to knowing the technical workflow behind film and its characteristics, is a key aspect in the formation of his students not just as technicians, but as artists.
The AFI programme, however, is still mostly based on digital imaging, and aims to give cinematographers a solid foundation in knowledge of workflows through capture all the way to the post-production pipeline.
Stephen also explains the application process to the cinematography discipline at the AFI, as well as what you can expect to experience throughout the programme. Well-worth a watch if you’re considering to apply to the American Film Institute!
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Featured image, courtesy of Jeremy Wong Weddings. wedding photography studio.
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Watch previous episodes of ON THE GO (& On the Couch) by clicking here. Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Cover Photo by Thomas William on Unsplash

In this episode of cinema5D ON THE GO, we talk to Stephen Lighthill ASC, former president of the American Society of Cinematographers. As he is also Head of the Cinematography discipline at the American Film Institute, he seemed like the right person to ask the age-old question: do you need to go to film school to become a successful cinematographer?
Although mostly self-taught, Stephen is of the opinion that there are some aspects of film school that offer valuable knowledge, such as History of Cinema or History of Art. These are a lot harder to self-teach than the practical aspects of filmmaking.
Additionally, the AFI offers an environment that helps nurture your work by allowing your work to be critiqued – and learning to take criticism in a safe environment can prove very useful for when you are out in the real world.
We also talk about the impact that technology has had in the industry. Beyond the clear advancements in camera technology, Stephen believes that the area that has seen some of the biggest innovations is that of lighting.
Another big aspect that has changed, in his opinion, is the way sets are run. Stephen Lighthill believes they tend to be somewhat more disorganised and undisciplined, due perhaps to the impression that – unrestricted by a limited number of film rolls – there is “free” media on which to record. This of course is a fallacy, as more advanced productions require increased resources in post production. A clear example of this is in the time required to sort through mislabeled rushes, or the needless transcoding of excess material.
And what about camera technology? Stephen believes that advancements are going to make cameras so similar in terms of specs at much lower prices, that the most deciding factor between one model versus another will be the ergonomic aspects of each camera.
Stay tuned for the next part of our chat with Stephen Lighthill ASC, where we discuss the curriculum at the AFI Cinematography program.
Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE GO coming!
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Watch previous episodes of ON THE GO (& On the Couch) by clicking here. Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

I had the chance to sneak onto the Zacuto single chip camera test set and hit up Steve and Jens with a few questions about the camera test. I was also able to nab a few quick interviews with the cinematographers there shooting the test. DOP Matt Siegel made a very cool comment on production design. I also found Stephen Lighthill’s response to be quite interesting. It was great to see Nancy Schreiber there as well. She is one of the most inspiring cinematographers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I did find it interesting that even though there was no declared winner. The Arri Alexa got mentioned quite a lot in the interviews.
***UPDATE*** Disclaimer
The Zacuto Great Camera Shootout 2011 is a Documentary about the “Single Chip Camera Evaluation”
“The SCEE is an independent evaluation being administered by Robert Primes, ASC”

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